Oil prices fall back to $80 per barrel, while US stocks drift

Oil prices retreated to around $80 per barrel on Tuesday, with Brent at $80.50, down 3.2% from earlier levels and marking the first dip below $81 since early March. The U.S. stock market drifted near record highs, as the S&P 500 rose 0.1% and the Dow gained 395 points, while the Nasdaq was largely unchanged. Traders cited optimism that a tentative Iran deal could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restore global oil flows, though talks remain complicated by Iran’s nuclear program. Brent’s decline signals ongoing energy-market volatility and a slower path to normalization that could take months.